Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Services and Programs in the UAE
Analytical Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31973/7kjy5z90Keywords:
Substance Abuse, Rehabilitation Services, Addiction TreatmentAbstract
The United Arab Emirates offers a pioneering humanitarian approach that emphasizes human service and care, whether on a local or worldwide basis. Therefore, the UAE has implemented a continual expansion and enhancement strategy for institutions and service providers across multiple fields. In substance abuse treatment field, UAE is committed to provide specialized substance abuse centres for patients and their families. These services have a workforce of highly skilled professionals. They provide an extensive range of services, such as detoxification, rehabilitation and treatment services, individual and family counselling, and continuous aftercare services. All these efforts should follow the international guidelines and standards of excellence to ensure that individuals receive care based on scientific evidence during the rehabilitation journey.
This paper examines a review about addiction treatment and rehabilitation centres in the UAE, including Al Amal Hospital, the National Rehabilitation Centre, the Erada Centre for Treatment and Rehab, and the Ownak Aftercare Centre. In addition, this report will highlight UAE efforts from a legal and strategic perspective, highlighting the recent changes in substance abuse law and Abu Dhabi Strategy to combat drug abuse 2022-2024. Moreover, this study attempts to demonstrate evidence-based guidelines for effective substance abuse rehabilitation and research-based behavioural approaches that are published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The method used in preparing this scientific paper is the documentary method, which depend on mainly on gathering secondary resources.
Downloads
References
Abu Al-Fath, Afaf Adel (2015). The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in alleviating severe relapse situations for those recovering from heroin addiction, unpublished PhD thesis, Faculty of Social Work, Helwan University, Egypt.
Brooks, A.C.; Ryder, D.; Carise, D.; and Kirby, K.C. (2010). Feasibility and effectiveness of computer-based therapy in community treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 39(3):227–235.
Carroll, K.M.; Ball, S.A.; Martino, S.; Nich, C.; Babuscio, T.A.; Nuro, K.F.; Gordon, M.A.; Portnoy, G.A.; and Rounsaville, B.J. (2008) Computer-assisted delivery of cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction: a randomized trial of CBT4CBT. The American Journal of Psychiatry 165(7):881–888.
DCD continues to activate the Integrated Strategy to Combat Addiction in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. (2022, July 31). From Zawaya: https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/government-news/dcd-continues-to-activate-the-integrated-strategy-to-combat-addiction-in-the-emirate-of-abu-dhabi-m4hb90w9
Donovan D.M., and Wells E.A. (2007), "Tweaking 12-step": The potential role of 12-Step self-help group involvement in methamphetamine recovery. Addiction 102(Suppl. 1):121-129.
Hourani, Muhammad ,Othman ,Hussein. (2019). "The Lived Experiences of Drug Addicts in Jordanian Society: Uncovering the Life Path of Addiction Using the Data Theory.University of Sharjah Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 17 (2A): 29–67.
Maryam, B. (2023, يونيو 26). 4 خطوات لعلاج الإدمان. From مركز الاتحاد للأخبار: https://www.aletihad.ae/news/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA/4413907/4-%D8%AE%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86
Fouda mohamed. (2019). 26 % نسبة التعافي من إدمان المخدرات بالدولة. تم الاسترداد من الإمارات اليوم: https://www.emaratalyoum.com/local-section/other/2019-02-14-1.1182512
NRC. (2024, February 20). Our History. From NRC: https://nrc.gov.ae/en/our-history
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment. (2018, January ). From National Insititue on Drug Abuse .
Report, G. N. (2019, September 2019). Mohammed Bin Rashid issues new law to tackle rehabilitation of substance and alcohol abuse in Dubai. From Gulf News : https://gulfnews.com/uae/mohammed-bin-rashid-issues-new-law-to-tackle-rehabilitation-of-substance-and-alcohol-abuse-in-dubai-1.66478449
TRACEY, K. (2022, March 28). The Thirteen Principles of Effective Addiction Treatment. From English Mountain Recovery : https://englishmountain.com/blog/13-nida-principles/
UAE Drug Law 2022 . (2022, January 10). From Mohamed Alnajjar for legal consultation : https://alnajjarlawyer.com/uae-drug-law-2022/
NIDA. 2018, January 17. Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition). Retrieved from https://archives.nida.nih.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition on 2024, March 5
LaPota, H.B.; Donohue, B.; Warren, C. S.; and Allen, D.N. (2011). Integration of a Healthy Living curriculum within Family Behavior Therapy: A clinical case example in a woman with a history of domestic violence, child neglect, drug abuse, and obesity. Journal of Family Violence 26:227–234, 2011.
Henggeler, S.W.; Halliday-Boykins, C.A.; Cunningham, P.B.; Randall, J.; Shapiro, S.B.; and Chapman, J.E. (2006). Juvenile drug court: Enhancing outcomes by integrating evidence-based treatments. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 74(1):42–54.
Liddle, H.A.; Rowe, C.L.; Dakof, G.A.; Ungaro, R.A.; and Henderson, C.E. (2004) Early intervention for adolescent substance abuse: Pretreatment to posttreatment outcomes of a randomized clinical trial comparing multidimensional family therapy and peer group treatment. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 36(1):49-63.
Santisteban, D.A.; Suarez-Morales, L.; Robbins, M.S.; and Szapocznik, J. (2006). Brief strategic family therapy: Lessons learned in efficacy research and challenges to blending research and practice. Family Process 45(2):259-271.
Siamak Ghasemnezhad1, Dariush Ghasemian, Bahram Gheytarani, Fatemeh Ghorbani4 and Shahrbanoo Ghahari. (2016). The Effectiveness of Matrix Treatment to Relapse prevention and Increase Self-Efficacy in People Withdrawing Methamphetamine. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences.
Godley, S.H.; Garner, B.R.; Passetti, L.L.; Funk, R.R.; Dennis, M.L.; and Godley, M.D. (2010). Adolescent outpatient treatment and continuing care: Main findings from a randomized clinical trial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Jul 1;110 (1-2):44–54.
Roll, J.M.; Petry, N.M.; Stitzer, M.L.; Brecht, M.L.; Peirce, J.M.; McCann, M.J.; Blaine, J.; MacDonald, M.; DiMaria, J.; Lucero, L.; and Kellogg, S. (2006). Contingency management for the treatment of methamphetamine use disorders. The American Journal of Psychiatry 163(11):1993–1999.
Haug, N.A.; Svikis, D.S.; and Diclemente, C.(2004). Motivational enhancement therapy for nicotine dependence in methadone-maintained pregnant women. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors18(3):289-292.
Wam, Emarites news agency. (2023). UNODC World Drug Report 2023 warns of converging crises as illicit drug markets continue to expand, 27.June.2023.
Waldron, H.B.; Turner, C. W.; and Ozechowski, T. J. (2005). Profiles of drug use behavior change for adolescents in treatment. Addictive Behaviors 30:1775–1796.
WAM, E. N. (2013, يونيو 19). تنمية المجتمع في دبي تطلق مركز " عونك " للتأهيل الاجتماعي للمدمنين . From وكالة أنباء الإمارات : https://wam.ae/ar/details/1395242412018
World Health Organization (2020).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Alyaa Aljasmi, Prof. Mohamed Alhorani

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright and Licensing:
For all articles published in Al-Adab journal, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work.
Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers: It is absolutely essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables or any extract of a text) which does not fall into the public domain, or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested by the authors from the copyrightholder (usually the Publisher, please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyrightholder).
Permission is required for: Your own works published by other Publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
Substantial extracts from anyones' works or a series of works.
Use of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.
Permission is not required for: Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please notice that in this case you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
Reasonably short quotes are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission.
Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition do not require permission.
Obtaining Permission
In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication process, you should start obtaining permissions as early as possible. If in any doubt about the copyright, apply for permission. Al-Adab Journal cannot publish material from other publications without permission.
The copyright holder may give you instructions on the form of acknowledgement to be followed; otherwise follow the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year].' at the end of the caption of the Table, Figure or Scheme.